#FREE READ Sunday! Crossroads…a Butterfly Memoir Mini- Chapter 8
Welcome back!
As you see, the countdown clock to the release of NOBODY’S BUSINESS is sitting on the right side of the website….it won’t be long now! In the meantime, that leaves chapters 8,9, and 10!
So, no need to recap what happened last week because as you know, Trevon got his happy ending (yep, pun intended! LOL!) But is it really a happy ending? Let’s find out….
*Just tuning in? Catch up by following these links to the previous chapters!*
Previous Chapters:
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Trevon
“Trevon, are you sure you’re okay?” Ebony’s voice cut through my thoughts. “You’re not your jovial self. I just made the second crack about you and your car, and you’ve barely acknowledged the fact I was speaking, much less in the car.”
“Sorry, Ebony. What were you saying?”
Her eyebrows pulled together. “The wisecrack was to see if you were listening. What I said was I think Brian wants to have a baby.”
That got my attention. “Really? How long have you guys been married?”
“Nearly a year and a half.”
I looked away from the road as we stopped at a red light. “You don’t sound that excited.”
Ebony looked out the window. “I have mixed feelings. Part of me wants to have a baby; another part feels like it’s too soon. My career is starting to take off, so is Brian’s.” She sighed heavily. “Am I selfish for not wanting to have the same thing as my husband?”
I huffed. “Eb, I’m the wrong person to be asking. Call LaShana if you want that type of feedback.” My attention went back to the road.
“I thought about it, but since she’s already pregnant, she’ll be pretty biased on the subject. So will mom.”
“And I’m the one you thought was your best choice to play sounding board? Don’t you have some female friends? What happened to them?” I pulled off when the light turned green.
“Both of them have kids, too.” She sighed. “Anyway, back to you. You’ve got something on your mind. Want to talk about it?”
“Not really.”
“Look, Tre, you’re taking me to a party to meet some of your friends. The last thing I want to do is walk in with a brother who has an obvious chip on his shoulder.”
I blew out my breath. “Ebony…”
“Tre.”
I glimpsed over to see raised eyebrows. Once she started questioning me, there was no way to get her to back down.
My attention went back to the road. “You wouldn’t understand.”
“So.”
“So…,” I blew my horn in frustration at the idiot who pulled in front of me. “Women are complicated. Let’s leave it at that, okay?”
I could feel my sister’s stare, but refused to look her way again. Then I felt her hand on my bicep.
“Yes, we can be…complicated. If there’s something you need to talk to me about, you know I’m here.”
“I know. Thanks, but I’m good for now.”
“Okay, then let’s lighten the mood. Tell me about these friends of yours.”
I took Ebony’s cue and dismissed the irritation that had been building for the past few days.
Ever since the night I had the best sex of my life.
With Devon.
The woman who challenged me mentally and physically.
And left me alone in bed the next morning.
The only evidence of the night of passion was my sheets strewn across the floor and the light red marks left on my skin from her nails.
And a note with two words…
Thank you.
And the lipstick kiss left on the corner of the paper. Can’t forget about that little detail.
It was hard to tell what disappointed me more. The fact she left or the feeling that I had been used.
There was an obvious attraction between us. The way we connected at the bar and the conversation that lasted for hours…
And the kiss that rocked my world. She’d felt it too.
Everything after that had been mind-blowing.
Where did I screw up?
Maybe the idea of getting to know each other, as I had so eloquently put it between the hot rounds of sex, had scared her off.
Maybe I should have ignored my libido and the flirty look in her eyes and kept our conversation going at the bar. The evening could have ended with an exchange of numbers and promise of a date.
Damn. Hindsight sucked.
“Uh…hello?”
“Sorry,” I mumbled. “Andre and Sharice, right. I’ve known Andre since college. He’s a good friend. His wife, Sharice, just had a baby a week ago and is dying to show him off, thus the reason for the dinner invitation.”
“She wants to have people over after a week?”
I nodded. “Sharice is rather possessive, but not in a bad way. Andre’s already got a daughter by another woman, some girl he dated back in high school. She’s still trying to get with him even though he’s been married for nearly four years. He’s a good father and takes care of his daughter. Though I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes. There’s a fine line between having two women with your baby on their list of claim to rights.” I chuckled. “I don’t know how he manages.”
Ebony laughed, too. “You’re lucky. All these years and the crazy women you’ve hooked up with, you have no kids.”
Suddenly, confiding in my sister about my past relationships seemed like a bad idea, twin or not.
“Why couldn’t you have been a boy?”
Ebony reached over and punched my shoulder.
I laughed.
When we arrived at Andre’s house, several cars sat in the driveway.
“Packed house. Come on so you can meet the gang.”
Andre greeted us at the door with an unlit cigar wrapped in blue cellophane. ‘It’s a Boy!’ was printed in big letters.
“Congratulations!” I gave him a brotherly hug, then introduced my sister.
“Come on in. Sharice and everyone else are in the living room.”
We entered and found the room packed with family.
Andre introduced Ebony, and I leaned over to see the baby and kiss Sharice on the cheek.
“Food is in the kitchen. That’s the great thing about having a baby, all the women in the family show up with all kinds of free food.” Andre rubbed his stomach.
Sharice rolled her eyes.
“That’s my cue to leave the women in here.” I followed Andre to the kitchen and left Ebony to admire the newborn.
I was filling my plate from the generous spread when the front door opened. Andre’s brother’s booming voice announced his presence.
“Malik brought his fiancée, so you’ll finally get a chance to meet her,” Andre supplied as he plopped a generous helping of potato salad on his plate.
I smirked. “I’d love to see what kind of woman in her right mind would stick around for his foolishness.”
Andre chuckled. “You’d be surprised.”
Then, I heard her. That laugh. My attention went to the doorway.
“I’m grabbing a plate,” Malik said as he entered the kitchen. “Kai, are you coming?”
“Sure, I’ll put this dessert in the kitchen.”
I knew that voice. My mouth went dry as my attention went to the woman walking in behind him.
And there she was, the woman who rocked my world and left me without leaving a number or email address. The woman I’d been searching for for days…
The woman who told me her name was Devon.
“Kai?” I blurted out.
The woman froze, her eyes widening in recognition.
Malik’s attention was trained on the table and was oblivious to me or his fiancées facial expressions.
Andre, on the other hand, was taking it all in.
“Trevon, right?” She recovered faster than I did.
I was about to open my mouth when Malik looked up. “You know him?” His eyes shot from me, to her, then back at me.
The woman with two names laughed. “Not really. We met once before. I didn’t realize you were friends.”
Try as she might to hide it, I still saw the shock in her eyes.
I forced my mouth shut. ‘Not really?’
“Where did you meet?” Malik pressed.
In my peripherals, I saw Andre put his plate down on the table, no doubt in response to my balled up fist.
Devon replied, “It was at Barnes and Noble, I think. We were on the same aisle, looking for the same book. He was nice enough to let me get the last copy.”
“Is that right?” Malik looked my way.
I forced my eyes to look at anything but her. “Something like that,” I mumbled.
Malik laughed. “Yeah, well, don’t be making moves on my woman. I’d hate to kick your ass and end a friendship.” His attention went back to the food on the table.
When I looked back, Devon was avoiding my gaze.
Andre, on the other hand, starred at me. The look in his eyes read as though he had an epiphany and needed an answer.
“Yo, Tre, I’m about to go to the store and get some ice. Wanna roll?” He gestured towards the door with thumb.
“Yeah,” I slipped my plate in the microwave. “Let’s do that. I need some air.”
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Chapter 9, coming next Sunday!
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